1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to devices for supporting pipes and the like, specifically a piping support device for supporting piping for conduits.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the related art, it has been known for construction workers, electricians, cable television installers, etc. to use devices or mechanisms to support, and facilitate safe installation and/or reinstallation of piping that house conduit for electrical power conductors in the walls of buildings. Non-limiting examples of such conductors include cables, wires, etc. Current devices for supporting piping in the marketplace do not significantly reduce the amount of time and energy its takes to reinstall piping that have fallen from building walls. Some improvements have been made in the field. Examples include but are not limited to the references described below, which references are incorporated by reference herein:
U.S. Pat. No. 6,235,988, issued to Karst et al., discloses a wall panel assembly for use in an office environment includes a wireway which is attached to a wall panel. The wireway includes two side walls, a top wall, a bottom wall and a raceway defining a conduit for electrical power conductors. The raceway is positioned between the side walls and extends between and interconnects the top wall and the bottom wall. The raceway structurally supports the wireway.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,338,485, issued to Fullenkamp et al., discloses a headwall unit for patient-care rooms has a skeletal framework which supports slidable cover panels. The cover panels are held in place by a removable vertically elongate portion of the framework. When the vertically elongate portion is released, the cover panels can be easily removed to provide access to the interior of the unit for installation or maintenance.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,488,198, issued to Kramer, discloses a device for protecting wires and tubes that must be placed thru the apertures in building panels or studs made of steel or the like. The device includes a single piece, plastic body having a wall surface which is bowed on opposing sides and flanged along its periphery. On opposing sides of the outer surface of the body's wall is arranged a single protruding ridge or a plurality of protruding, angled pins or male nubs which securely hold, in the gap formed between the wall flange and the ridge/male nubs, the opposing rims of an aperture in a metal stud that this device is designed to be securely attached to. The body of this device can be of any size or shape, including but not limited to square, rectangular, oval or cathedral shaped. Due to its elasticity and larger than aperture size, this device can be pinched in along the opposing bowed sides of the body's wall and upon release an outward pressure is achieved against the rims of the stud aperture. The design of the protruding male nubs in relation to the wall flange allows this device to remain firmly attached to the aperture once it is attached thereto.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,354,952, issued to Hickey, discloses an electric wiring system comprising a plurality of electrical members including at least one wire and one enclosure to make a connection between the wire and one of the members, and a conduit support bracket. The enclosure having walls perpendicular to each other with one wall having at least one entrance for the wire. The conduit support bracket having a plate member attached at one end to one of the walls of the enclosure while supporting conduits adjacent its second end.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,560,397, issued to Miller et al., discloses a conduit assembly which has an inner sleeve and outer sleeve which are proportioned to be concentrically mounted, each of which has a longitudinal slot of approximately the same width is disclosed. The conduits are circular, and a detent is provided on the larger of the conduits to accept and nestingly receive the slot of the smaller conduit when the same is rotated to form a complete circular encasement of the wires or cables which are passed through the conduits. The method of the invention contemplates the steps of forming a hole through a wall, such as a firewall, thereafter, optionally, passing the wires through, or passing the inner and outer sleeve through, and then once the wires are in place, or in anticipation of the wires being inserted, rotating the inner sleeve within the outer sleeve until the sleeve slots are approximately diametrically opposed and the central sleeve slop is secured in the detent. After the wires are in place interiorly of the conduit, a packing is inserted through the conduit assembly. Thereafter a blow out patch is secured to the exterior portion of the firewall on both side, and receives the end of the conduit assembly. The blow out patch, in turn, is secured to the firewall making a complete installation in which there are voids are minimized, which voids could pass smoke, fire, fumes, or other undesirables.
U.S. Patent Application Publication No.: 2003/0182881, by Denier et al., discloses a bracket for supporting an electrical junction box within a wall frame. The bracket has a junction box support portion adapted to be connectable to the electrical junction box and a cable support portion extending from the junction box support portion. The cable support portion has a cable securing portion that receives and automatically secures the electrical cables in the cable support portion, thereby fixing the electrical cables a desired distance from the junction box.
U.S. Design Pat. No. D295,521, issued to Mockett, discloses the ornamental design for a conduit for wires or the like.
The inventions heretofore known suffer from a number of disadvantages which include being difficult to mount on a wall structure, impractical, expensive, heavy in weight and/or cumbersome.
What is needed is a piping support device that solves one or more of the problems described herein and/or one or more problems that may come to the attention of one skilled in the art upon becoming familiar with this specification.